Borean Dusk at the Pageant, July 16, 2011

Have you ever wondered if a type of music existed that would make you want to dance a jig and headbang at the same time? If you attended the Borean Dusk concert at the Pageant in St Louis on July 16 , you know that such an elusive type of music does exist.

Borean Dusk combines masterful heavy metal electric guitar work with traditional European folk sounds of mandolin and acoustic guitar. Their music is purely instrumental; the band has no vocalist, and they in fact don’t even speak on stage. Their primal stage attire includes kilts, fur pelt pieces, tribal face paint and bare-chested manliness.

These guys are musicians with a capital M. The guitar work is beautiful, flowing, crunchy, toothy, wooing, foreboding, all at once. The drums alternate between maniacally frantic to tribal and folky. This was the first time I heard an instrumental band that made me glad there was no singer, so that I could savor the mood of every note.

Fans seemed to respond in different individual ways to this music. Some people in the crowd were seen uncontrollably playing fierce air guitars; some were leaning back in their chairs, stroking beards, making a more cerebral analysis of the intricate guitar work. The thought struck me that, despite the lack of lyrics, this was music that can be instinctively reacted to as well as pondered and enjoyed on a deeper level.

Borean Dusk performed a spellbinding set of music that included songs from their self-titled CD as well as some new material. Use this LINK to find out more about them, and enjoy the photos of their St Louis show at the Pageant: